Richard Branson’s Virgin Games division is collaborating with Game Domain International (GDI) to develop a new PC game download service named A World Of My Own.

With this the company becomes the latest entrant into the cluttered world of online gaming arena.

The company however has big plans with this gaming service as they aim to host tournaments and award prizes.

This online service is due for a launch later this year and would offer the gamers access to a variety of streamed games over a high speed delivery service.

The game would be set in a virtual 3-D world, the AWOMO platform. Virgin and GDI said in a statement that it would replicate the functionality of iTunes enabling gamers to download their favorite games from the web.

They would charge the gamers on a pay-per-game-play basis or on a subscription.

Sir Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin spoke on these plans: “This is a really exciting development for us, as it gives us the opportunity to do for PC games what iTunes has done for music. The GDI technology will revolutionize how the mass market will play games and will give them more choice for less money.”

Mochi Media is primarily known for tracking Web gaming traffic but they are now expanding their services by launching an advertising network for videogames.

The company plans to offer dynamic advertisements in free games available on the web. Mochi said that they aim to tap the advertisers who are not in a position to deal with bigger gaming companies like Electronic Arts.

Nils Johnson, CEO, Gorilla Mobile who used their services during the trial period added his views: “We’re able to market to a captive user without competing against a lot of other advertisers.”

Some other companies they have worked with till now on this project included big names like Wrigley and BitTorrent.

Sony PSP owners in the North America can get their hands on some of the original Playstation games for their handheld console.

Sony has made available these games on the Playstation network and gamers can download them using their Playstation 3 consoles and transfer them to the PSP using a cable.

There are currently five titles available for download: Crash Bandicoot, Cool Boarders, Hot Shots Golf 2, Syphon Filter and Tekken 2. Sony is selling these for US $5.99.

However, the disappointing part is that these games are not designed to use the PSP’s Wi-Fi functionality to allow multiplayer gaming.

Gamers are also disappointed that they currently need a PS3 to get access to these games. Sony has said that they plan to launch a PSP specific network, which would allow the gamers to download games directly to a memory stick.

Walt Disney Co.’s Buena Vista Game unit has said that they are now establishing a new video game studio.

This new division would concentrate on developing new games for the Nintendo’s Wii and DS gaming consoles.

Scott Novis is expected to become the vice president and general manager for Disney’s new Fall Line Studio.

Nintendo is due to launch their Wii gaming console later this month and the DS handheld gaming device has been a smash hit in the US market.

Nintendo Wii would take on Sony Playstation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 gaming console.

US based mobile service provider Verizon Wireless has launched a new service providing online PC gaming on television sets. They are working with Intel Corporation to launch this new service called Verizon Games on Demand.

This service would allow the customers to play popular PC games on their television sets. This technology would support Intel’s Viiv technology-based PCs. And users would be able to find this service through the Media Center Edition menu system.

Kevin Corbett, vice president of Intel’s Digital Home Group and general manager of the company’s Content Services Group spoke on this new service launch: “The combination of Intel Viiv technology and Verizon Games on Demand provides consumers with a wide selection of popular gaming experiences for both the PC and the TV, which adds a whole new dimension to online gaming.”

Colson Hillier, director of new product development for Verizon added: “We’re creating a graphics-rich, ‘big-screen’ game-playing experience for the entire family. This is an extension of Verizon’s commitment to provide customers with the content and service they want, whenever they want it, and however they want to receive it.”

Electronic Arts has reported that their quarterly profit fell 57%. The company has suffered from the cost of employee stock options.

However, the company’s share price gained at the market as its results topped Wall Street expectations. EA also raised its full-year sales and profit forecast.

The company reported that its net income for the most recent quarter fell to $22 million, or 7 cents a share, from $51 million, or 16 cents, a year earlier. This included $33 million in option costs.

The sales were up 16% to $784 million. The market had expected figures of around $673 million. EA gained from phenomenal sales of Madden NFL ‘07 and NCAA Football ‘07 gaming titles.

Electronic Arts Inc has launched a totally updated download service for computer games. This goes on to show their commitment to this new way of distributing content to their customers.

The world’s largest publisher of videogames said it plans to officially announce the new portal, EA Link, on Friday. As per incoming reports, the service is already up and running.

It would replace the existing service called EA Downloader which has not been up to the standards people expect from them.

Users would be able to download materials faster, search for products in a more organized fashion, launch purchased games directly, and have their payment information linked to their accounts. They can also now make payments using eBay’s PayPal service.

EA currently is offering around 16 PC game titles available for download. It added that future game launch would be made available on disk at retail stores as well as in a digital version at EA Link at the same price and on the same day.

The company would also be making available game demos, trailers, wallpaper and software patches through this service.

Checkout: EA Live

Videogame console maker Sony is due to launch their next generation gaming console Sony Playstation 3 next month.

This gaming console would be supported with an online service named PlayStation Network similar to Xbox Live online service, which has been tremendously successful for Microsoft.

The company said that the PS3 online service would let players compete and chat online and download games, music and movies.

PlayStation Network would use a navigation system already available on Sony’s handheld game player.

World’s largest publisher of videogames Electronic Arts has confirmed that they are planning to launch its first online game for distribution in China.

This is the second announcement from the company this month and this comes after they recently disclosed plans to make china their global center for online game development.

EA is setting up a 500-person studio and they are aiming to generate $1 billion in Asian revenue by 2010.

They have already been present in this market since the last two years but have been pretty quiet about their operations in china.

Electronic Arts would work with their local partners Guangdong Tian Yue Network Technology Development Co. Ltd. to offer this fantasy-themed game “Tales Runner” in China.

They had just recently announced similar plans to launch a stable of casual online games grouped under the “Pogo” name to the Chinese market.

Microsoft is to soon launch the first major overhaul to its Xbox Live service. The new features would include background downloading, direct booting to the dashboard and improved media functions.

One of the major new feature additions would be enhanced functionality of the Xbox Live Marketplace. Xbox Live Marketplace has turned out to very successful for the company.

Users would love the facility to download stuff in the background while performing other functions on the Xbox 360 console.

The upgrade would also result in the console providing better control over the playback of downloaded video clips. Users would now be able to place bookmarks in DVD video content.

Games would also be able to directly boot into the dashboard skipping the disc in the drive.